


Dance Lessons

by LarissaFae



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Dancing, F/M, Gift Fic, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Sex, Smut, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 19:31:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20765762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarissaFae/pseuds/LarissaFae
Summary: Aloy returns to Meridian in time for the Grand Fall Equinox Festival at the palace, and Avad teaches her to dance.





	Dance Lessons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xenontrioxide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenontrioxide/gifts).

> a few universal truths of my hzd fanfiction:  
1\. avad is a sub  
2\. avad is a bottom  
3\. avad loves giving oral  
4\. itamen is universally-loved  
5\. eloquent tatavid and the carja kama sutra - the carja sutra, if you will  
6\. no one is straight  
6.1 unless they're also trans
> 
> the main song is [Oigo Tu Voz](https://open.spotify.com/track/6oFo6bwhvppeU6vhj0bChO?si=Tvixa9H_Q9Ge5h9KDIBLpw) by Romantica Milonguera.

“I thought you just _had_ a festival.”

Avad stood and turned to his left, smiling with relief and genuine happiness. The noble he had been politely disagreeing with for the last half hour was led off the other way.

“We have several,” he told Aloy good-naturedly. “Perhaps you could stay for this one? We would be honored to have you attend.”

“Is this the plural or singular ‘we’?” She was in stormranger armor, but where she’d gotten it, he didn’t know. It suited her, though.

“Yes.” She arched an eyebrow. “There are four main ones - the equinoxes and solstices - and lesser festivals between each.”

“Eight days off a year?”

“Horrible, I know,” he cut her off easily, “especially since the major festivals are a week long each, and the minor generally last at least two days. And who knows? I might even go visit the little people below the mesa this year, see if they really _are_ the size of ants.”

That brought clearly-unexpected laughter, and she shook her head. “Alright, I get it. You get more sarcastic every time I see you.”

He didn’t laugh as loudly as he wanted to, instead shrugging and spreading his hands in front of him. “Well, I have a good teacher.” There was a soft noise from behind the throne and he turned, nodding just slightly to Marad in thanks. He never really knew if he and Aloy’s conversations were just that, or something more, and as he didn’t want to make an ass of himself again, had swallowed his pride and asked Marad to make sure he didn’t go too far.

“I will make sure that, should you wish to attend, Aloy, your room here is available for you.”

“I don’t want to cause talk,” she said as she tucked one of her braids behind her ear.

Before Avad could speak, Marad shook his head. “It won’t. You are, of course, held in high esteem for saving Meridian ---”

“The entire world,” she corrected him under her breath.

“--- and as such, as well as holding such a high rank in your own tribe,” and he ignored the slight face she made, “of course it makes sense for you to stay at the palace when you visit. If you prefer a lower profile, however ---”

“I usually stay at the Lodge or with Talanah. Really, I’m fine.”

“I believe that Olin’s apartments are still open. Many tribal delegates have apartments in Meridian for when they require lodging here ---”

“I’m not a delegate.”

“--- regardless of how often they use them. I am certain that securing such a place will be no great difficulty.”

Avad kept his gaze slightly lowered as they continued to ignore, and talk over, each other. He had to eventually cover his mouth to hide his smile, then sat and picked up a book.

He knew what would happen. The two would continue until they got tired - and sometimes it took a few hours, because both were obstinate and pig-headed when they wanted to be - and then he would purchase apartments for her in town, and she wouldn’t tell him she was using them, but would gradually decorate them as she saw fit, just as she had done with the room in the palace that he had had set aside for her. After a few months of knowing when she had been in town and that she hadn’t stayed in it, he had made it clear that while he enjoyed her company, he needn’t see her every time she was in Meridian, and after that the servants had reported that not only was she staying there often, her room had suddenly acquired a lot more decorations, both personal and from the tribes he knew about and some he didn’t.

He was glad that his lack of expectations had set her so much at ease. He had also had to tell the servants that he really needn’t know when she was there, that if _she_ wanted him to know, she knew where to find him. He was neither her father nor her keeper, despite being the Sun-King.

“--- and as pleasant as this conversation has been ---”

“It’s not a conversation. You’re ignoring me.”

“--- His Radiance does have more courtiers to speak with before dinner. Will you be joining us?”

“Aloy!” They all turned at the sound of Itamen’s voice, and he ran around the throne and threw himself at her, hugging her tightly around the waist as she awkwardly patted his shoulder and greeted him. He smiled up at her, still shy, but far more comfortable than ever. “Are you staying here? Are you having dinner with us? Mother misses you. Have you found new machines for me to make?”

Avad caught Marad’s eye, and got a smugly neutral look in return. Aloy was defenseless against Itamen - _everyone_ was defenseless against his little brother.

She sighed. “Yeah, I found new machines. I’ll show you over dinner.”

The young boy lit up and took her hand, pulling at her. “Come say hello to Mother! May I please help you unpack? Where were you this time? Are you staying for the Grand Festival?”

“We will see you at dinner,” Avad said as Itamen pulled her away, still talking quietly, full of questions. “That was clever of you.”

“Your Radiance will have to be more specific.”

Avad laughed softly. “When did you purchase Olin’s apartments?”

“I haven’t.” Avad blinked at him, and got a small smile in return. “Your Radiance, however, purchased them immediately after Aloy was last here.”

That had the king laughing. “I am a very forward-thinking man, it appears.”

“So it does.”

***

She never knew if they were flirting or not. It wasn’t something that Rost had taught her about. She could tell when most people were flirting with her, but Avad … Every time she started to think he was, he pulled back. She had been grateful for it for quite a while, but now …

“Aloy? May I please use the Focus tonight?”

But now, Itamen wanted her attention, and she was more than happy to give it to him. He was easier to deal with than his brother. She grinned at him.

“If your mother says it’s ok,” she said, causing him to giggle, “then of course.” She never asked him to get Avad’s permission, and she never intended to, either. Avad might be king, but Nasadi was his mother. “War Chief Sona might have left you a message.”

That got another giggle. “Because you didn’t tell her it was writing it down.”

She grinned again and tweaked his nose. “Nope.”

“Of course you may,” Nasadi told him.

“Thank you, Mother. I should get my pencils.”

He got up and hurried off to get his art supplies, and once he had disappeared into the palace, Aloy leaned forward and took out the Focus that she had been tinkering with. Nasadi raised her eyebrows.

“It isn’t on unless it’s being worn,” the younger woman started, “and I’ve made sure that it will only … talk … with mine.” She hoped. She trusted Minerva more than Hephy, at any rate. He was still mad at her. “I’ve put things he might like on it - new machines, new animals, new tribes - and _if_ it’s alright with you, I’d like to give it to him. If he only uses it when I’m with him, if that makes you more comfortable ...”

“Oh.” Nasadi was still surprised, and took the Focus, turning it over in her hands as she looked at it and thought. “If you say that it is safe … We should ask Avad. If he doesn’t mind …” She smiled slightly at the look on Aloy’s face. “Not because he is the king,” she said, “but because he is Itamen’s brother, and worries about him. I would only want Itamen to use it under your supervision.”

Aloy perked up and nodded. “Great! We’ll tell Avad later.”

The dowager queen was still smiling. “You know, we exchange gifts every festival. If you were to stay, or be able to come back, you could give it to Itamen then.”

Could she afford to stay? And would she be able to make it back in time if she didn’t? Aloy nodded slowly, taking the Focus back and tucking it away again. Nasadi didn’t press for an answer. She never pressed for an answer. Aloy was thankful.

She was also thankful for not having to buy her own food when she was in town, she mused later, watching Itamen run around with her Focus shining on his right temple. He was delighted at the novelty of it, at the folder of images and videos she had added just for him. Figuring out how to make him his own section of it - profile, the Focus had called it - that he couldn’t access anything else from had been difficult, but each time she visited and let him use it, she decided that it had been worth it. She wanted - she probably _needed_ \- to get Avad and Erend their own Focuses, and Marad as well, but she had to make sure that Sylens wouldn’t be able to hack into them, first.

Minerva was proving useful in that regard. In a lot of regards, really, but when Aloy was in Meridian, and the palace, she was most thankful for the AI’s instructions on how to shield Focuses from prying eyes. She was getting fairly good at coding. Or so she assumed. It had been a while since Sylens had unexpectedly poked his nose in her business.

Avad was smiling over his goblet at his younger brother, then turned his amber-brown eyes on her. She smiled back.

“Thank you for staying for dinner. Itamen enjoys your visits as much as he enjoys having Vanasha and Uthid over.”

She laughed a little. “Did you ever figure out where the kid came from?”

“Of course not. I’m fairly certain he isn’t actually Vanasha’s, but … Well. This _is_ Vanasha. And I am not entirely sure that Uthid knows, either.”

A small child had shown up on Vanasha’s hip one day, and the only person besides Vanasha herself who knew where the boy had come from was probably Marad, but neither were talking. Everyone just accepted that this was how things were, now, and Uthid was a very content homemaker - not least because he _had_ to be. Vanasha hadn’t really given him a choice.

“Well, he’s doing a good job taking care of the kid, from what I’ve seen. They both are.” Aloy sipped her wine and stretched her legs out, having changed into her light Blazon armor. She still wasn’t entirely comfortable wearing no armor at all, but the Blazon armor was less … aggressive … than anything else she had that was appropriate for the hot Meridian weather. Talanah kept trying to get her to wear regular Carja clothes, but Aloy had thus far resisted. She didn’t like feeling vulnerable.

“Itamen will want you to stay,” the king was saying. “Both in Meridian in general and here in particular. What should we tell him?”

Itamen wasn’t the only one who wanted to know. Aloy shrugged. “I can stay the night. It’s late enough. I don’t want to have to get thrown in jail again.”

Avad flushed a little even as he tried to hide a smile. “They were new. I’m so sorry about that.”

She flashed him a grin. “Yeah, I know. Which is why I didn’t hurt them. They didn’t get in trouble, did they?”

“No, just very firmly educated.” He shook his head. “Apparently Erend has been having your portrait passed around to new recruits, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Aloy paused and narrowed her eyes a bit, then laughed. “Odd, but thank you.” She cleared her throat. “Ah, if I were to be able to make it to the party, is there a dress code?”

He was trying not to look hopeful, and for the most part succeeding. For the most part. “For you? Absolutely not. For anyone else? Yes. Formal dress is always required when attending a party at the palace.”

She wasn’t sure if he was being dramatic, sarcastic, or both, but took a breath and took a plunge. “Well, I should have Talanah take me dress-shopping, then.”

The shocked, vulnerable look on his face when he jerked around to stare at her had her heart fluttering wildly in her chest.

***

“I’m not sure about this,” she was saying two days later, fingering the fine purple gauze in front of her.

“That one goes _over_ another fabric,” Talanah told her with a laugh. “You won’t be naked. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m not Carja. Hell, even when I’m wearing Blazon armor, everyone knows I’m not Carja.”

“You just have to shove that stick a bit more up your ass,” the Sunhawk said with another laugh. Aloy laughed despite herself. “Marad can help.” That brought more laughter. Tala waved her hand dismissively. “You’ll be fine. You’re a special guest of His Radiance’s, so regardless of anything else, you’ll be welcome at the palace and no one will say anything to your face. And if they do, and we happen to _have_ to defend our honor in a brawl, well, it’ll liven up a stuffy evening. I won’t let them arrest you.” She was frowning at the bolts of brocade she was looking at, more critical of them than Aloy could ever hope to be. Tala had been raised in fine Carja society, after all, and while Aloy knew what _she_ thought was pretty, she was reminded constantly, on every visit to Meridian, that she was a tasteless barbarian with no eye for fine culture.

“As if they could,” she snorted as Tala put a bolt of red brocade under her arm. “Did you know that Erend is having my portrait passed around?”

“Why? So everyone knows what you look like? I think the red hair would be enough. It’s pretty uncommon.” Said hair was tugged on, and Aloy pursed her lips. Tala just grinned. “Come on, this will be fun. If we pick the right outfit, you can hide a few knives in it.”

“I’m not good with knives.”

“But _I_ am. I’ll show you. They’re easy.” The Sunhawk pulled out a couple of bolts of fabric and eyed them critically. “I had hoped that becoming Sunhawk would _decrease_ the number of parties I was invited to, but quite the opposite has happened. And the paperwork. _Ugh,_ the _paperwork._ I don’t suppose you’ve found a machine to do it for me?”

Aloy laughed. “The Old Ones _did_ have machines to do paperwork, but they were a, uh, a little more complicated than you’re hoping for.”

“Bah.” Her friend and mentor put the fabric back. “No wonder they went extinct. Couldn’t even simplify paperwork.”

“It _was_ simplified,” Aloy told her as she followed her through the shop. “It was just … Simplified in their own way. Using machines.”

“Like a Thunderjaw?” was the chipper response as Tala peeked over a pile of fabric at her. “A Thunderjaw doing paperwork? Filing everything?” She sounded _incredibly_ hopeful - and, having seen the amount of paperwork the Sunhawk had to deal with, Aloy couldn’t blame her.

She covered her mouth, trying to keep her laughter down. _“No. Not_ a Thunderjaw doing paperwork. Different types of machines. Not the … the animal ones there are now. Smaller ones. Like this, and everything in between.” She tapped her Focus.

“I want to see a Thunderjaw doing paperwork, though. My own pet Thunderjaw - then my position as Sunhawk would _never_ be challenged. You can do these things. Work your magic on it, Thrush. Make your Hawk proud.”

She could _possibly_ get one to write something in the dirt, record it, then let Tala use her Focus to see. She covered a laugh and tapped a shimmery blue fabric. It almost matched the scarf that she had had since before she could remember. “I’ll see what I can do. I want this one. Something in this color.”

“Mm? As an accent, or the entire thing?”

“The entire thing. Maybe red or green accents?” She shrugged. “As long as the main color is this one, I don’t really care. I don’t think it’s quite in style, but I’m an outcast barbarian outlander - what do _I_ care about what’s in style or not?”

That had Tala laughing. “Very true. Let’s get you fitted.”

***

She and Tala arrived arm-in-arm, gathering stares from the nobles and tribal delegates around them. She had been talked out of having her entire outfit be pale blue, instead going with Tala’s suggestion of what was essentially a non-armored version of her Blazon light armor. She was in the makeup of a Carja noble, and had foregone her usual braids for large, soft curls that brought her hair to just barely below her shoulders and framed her face quite nicely, or so Tala said.

Rather than blue, purple, and gold, the silk top under the vest was all pale blue, and the armored pants had been replaced with a pale blue silk skirt. Her shoulder armor and upper arm armor had been replaced with delicately-wrought machine circuitry-inspired bronze armbands, her gauntlets replaced with the false sleeves with bronze feathers on them that Carja noblewomen favored, the silk the same pale blue. The headdress was a more decorative version of the usual one, and it was all, thankfully, subtly armored. The only pouch she had kept had been the one with her Seeker emblem on it. Tala had indeed shown her the basics of knife fighting in the month between ordering the outfit and the Grand Fall Equinox festival.

“The Sunhawk of the Hunters Lodge, Lady Talanah Khane Padish,” the man announcing everyone said loudly, “and the Seeker of the Nora and delegate to and of all tribes, Lady Aloy Khane Sobeck.”

That had her head whipping around to stare at Tala, slack-jawed. She had told her about Elisabet, trying to explain the Faro Plague and the Derangement as simply as possible without treating her friend like a simpleton, and while Tala had often just nodded a little blankly, she had more than understood Aloy’s grief over losing Lis, even though she had never had her in the first place. It had led to Tala talking about the loss of her own family, which had led to tender moments of comfort between the two of them.

But she had never expected _this._

“Close your mouth, dear,” Tala said, a pleased smile on her lips as she pulled them ahead and into short bows to Avad, who was standing in front of his throne to greet people, staring at them with much the same shocked expression that Aloy herself wore. “You don’t want people thinking you’re a barbarian.”

She snapped her jaw shut and swallowed past a painful lump in her throat. “Tala, I ---”

“It seemed appropriate. Lord Kalinaq, Lady Eruna,” she said, nodding to the two nobles. “You _have_ a family, Aloy, even if they’re no longer here, and even if you never knew some of them. They would be proud of you. Come on, Avad’s about to piss himself.”

“Or turn to stone,” Aloy murmured, heart pounding as they walked up to the throne, only vaguely feeling Erend lift her in a huge hug, not hearing his enthusiastic greeting at all. She was still reeling from her introduction, and to add to her emotional imbalance, Avad was there in his ceremonial garb, his cheeks brushed with faint gold makeup that did little to hide their burning, everything about him beyond radiant and befitting the literal embodiment of a god.

He moved oddly, as if he had been nudged, and reached for both their hands, kissing them at the same time as Tala tried not to laugh too terribly inappropriately, his eyes never leaving Aloy’s.

“My ladies,” he barely croaked out. “I … you … It is beyond an honor to have you here. Both of you,” he added as a clear afterthought, moving his face slightly toward Tala but keeping his eyes on Aloy. He swallowed sharply, then cleared his throat as he blinked and shook his head. He was frowning a little. “Ah … Khane Sobeck?”

“Long story,” Tala said easily, when Aloy couldn’t speak.

He nodded. “Of course, of course. You needn’t tell me. Ah, wine?”

“Sure,” Aloy finally breathed. She blinked and looked away from his eyes, dark brown in the fading sunlight but with flashes of amber when the torches around them hit them right, trying to relearn how to breathe. She knew the burning in the pit of her stomach well, and gratefully took the metal goblet of wine she was handed, sipping perhaps more quickly than she needed to. “Happy equinox, I guess. And all the greetings I don’t care about because I’m a godless barbarian.”

He burst into laughter, teeth flashing white for just a moment before he muffled himself and schooled his face into a more neutral smile. It made her breath catch and her heart skip.

“Happy equinox to you, as well - and all the greetings you don’t care about because you’re a godless barbarian. I do hope that I will have the honor of dancing with both you ladies tonight?”

“What, and deprive the palace girls?”

Avad’s brotherly fondness for the palace servant girls was apparently well-known, and he laughed again, but more subdued than before.

“Oh, I danced with them while everything was being set up,” he told Tala, “and will probably dance with them again as everything is cleaned.”

Marad smoothly interrupted to remind them that there were other courtiers waiting to greet the king, and that had Aloy saying goodbye and walking off quickly, trying to catch her breath as she gulped down her wine.

“That is one good man,” Tala murmured as they twirled onto the dance floor. Aloy blinked at her, and she was smiling slightly.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I’d be subtle, but subtlety is often lost on you, Thrush. Are you going to bed him? You both want it,” she went on as Aloy, who knew she should have been expecting the question yet was still shocked by it, stumbled and gaped. “He won’t hold any expectations you tell him not to hold - at least, not verbally, and he won’t push them on you if he does.”

“You know this personally?”

“Of course I do,” Tala said with a grin, ignoring the sudden bite in Aloy’s voice as she retreated to gruffness to hide how off-balance and uncomfortable with the discussion she was. “There was no way I was _not_ going to bed a sweet, awkward, shy, virgin prince. How could I resist? So? Are you leaving with me or not tonight?”

“Aloy!” They both turned as Itamen ran up, Uthid jogging a little to keep up with him, and threw his arms around her waist. “You look so beautiful! Are you staying tonight? I got you an Equinox present. Did you get me one? It’s alright if you didn’t. Will you dance with me? Please?”

“Ah, sure … And yeah, I got you a gift.” His face lit up, and he squeezed her tighter as she awkwardly hugged him back. Dancing was them holding hands and spinning, which made Itamen laugh with delight and Aloy’s heart melt.

She couldn’t sleep with Avad. She would try her best to keep it casual - they both would - but they would both fail. Avad seemed to have already failed, despite not even beginning. And for herself … She no longer knew how she felt about him. He _was_ a good man, as Tala had said, and she had no issue with casual sex, but …

She could always tell him that she had slept with Nil a fair amount of times and watch all his interest dissipate into horror and disgust, she thought, finding the idea morbidly hilarious.

Her half-hearted plan to see if it would actually work evaporated as soon as Erend - she had lost count with how many people she had danced with, finding it a good way to keep herself somewhat distracted as she concentrated on the steps she was still unsure of - spun her into Avad’s arms, and for a while they avoided each other’s gazes. His hand in hers was warm and shaking slightly, his hand on her waist the same.

“You look ---” he started, then cut himself off and cleared his throat when she looked up at him. “Blue suits you,” he tried again.

“I suppose it’s my favorite color,” she said with a shrug.

“The scarf that Rost gave you ---”

He cut himself off again, and Aloy just smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Because of that.”

“It suits you.”

They both ignored that he had just said that, and a few minutes later Avad cleared his throat again.

“Ah, Itamen had wanted to know if you were staying tonight …”

The thought occurred to her that he may have sent his little brother to ask earlier, but that would have been ridiculously underhanded for him. Probably. She shrugged. “Ah, I mean … He wants me to, so I guess …”

His smile was closed-lipped but pleased, and he nodded. “Excellent. Ah, I can have your room aired out ---”

“I don’t want _anyone_ touching my room,” she griped. “It’s _mine._ I like _privacy.”_

That made him chuckle, both of them finally relaxing.

“Spoken like a true only child.”

“Look, I live on my own most of the time and I never got privacy with Rost because the entire house was just one big room. Let me have my space.”

“In _my_ home.”

He was teasing her, and she made a nasty face that they both knew she was - mostly - faking. “Yeah. In _your_ home.”

“As you wish.”

They met gazes for a moment before they both started laughing, and Aloy shook her head. “I swear, I’m going to put a sign up that says ‘Keep Out’.”

“As the king, I can go where I please.”

“I changed my mind - it’ll say ‘Keep Out, Especially Avad.’”

“I could scale the walls to the balcony.”

“You couldn’t.” She wiggled his arm a bit. “You don’t have the muscle.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “I guarantee I could.”

Aloy narrowed her eyes at him, then laughed. “Fine. Do it. Right now.”

“Now?”

“Did I stutter?”

He looked around and hummed a bit. He apparently decided the party had died down enough, because he bowed and led her off the dance floor, murmuring something to Marad. He got the most blankly ‘I have _had_ it with your shit’ look that Aloy had ever seen him give the king, but Marad merely nodded and then gave her the same look. She shrugged and mouthed ‘Annointed’ at him, which got her the slow blink that passed for an eye roll for him.

Avad bowed to her again, gesturing towards the tower that her room was in - the one that his rooms were _not_ in.

“After you,” he told her formally. “We have much to discuss.”

“Thank you,” she replied with equal formality.

Once inside, there was a servant who handed them a rappelling rope and hook, which Avad took with a pleasant thank-you and a few shards, to which the servant boy bowed quickly and with many thanks. He looked around with pursed lips, then nodded and led her up a few stairs and into a study, opening the balcony and looking up as he gauged the distance.

“This is right below your room,” he told her. “Are you ready?”

“Please no,” the guard who had followed them muttered.

Aloy grinned. “Yeah. I’ll be up there waiting.”

“See you soon, then.”

“Sun at your back, and all.”

“The sun has set,” he called as she swept out of the room.

“I know!” she called back cheerfully. Her room was mercifully undisturbed since her last visit, and she threw the balcony doors open with a slight wrinkle of her nose at the musty smell. Maybe she _should_ let him have it aired out once in a while. She leaned on the balcony and grinned down at him. “Ready when you are, strong man.”

“All hail Sun-King Itamen,” was the extremely put-upon comment from the guard.

“Oh, quiet,” Avad told him, getting a snort in return.

Aloy wasn’t surprised that he got the hook over the balustrade on the first try - it wasn’t _that_ far a distance, after all - but she _was_ a little surprised at how easily he was able to pull himself up. He also didn’t quite scale the wall. He twisted the rope around his arms and legs to steady himself and then sort of shimmied up it, barely having to touch the wall at all. She was tilting her head, intrigued and somewhat offended that she had never thought to do that herself, when he hauled himself over the balustrade with a smugly satisfied grin, the stupid hooks on his shoes making a harshly grating noise on the stone.

He gave her an exaggerated bow. “Ta-da.”

“How did you _do_ that?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to figure out if it had counted as cheating.

He raised polite eyebrows at her - or would have, if he hadn’t been wearing his stupid crown. “Do what?”

“Get up here like that.”

That had him leaning against the balustrade with an easy laugh. “I am the literal embodiment of a god,” he reminded her.

“Boar shit.” He laughed again. “How did you do that?”

“Basic acrobatics,” he relented.

“I think that’s cheating.”

“I climbed the wall like I said I could.”

“You barely touched it.”

“I still got up here, did I not?”

She huffed and relented. “Yeah, well, you’re still not allowed in my room.”

He took his crown off with another laugh as she stared at the glorious mass of wavy hair that fell over his eyes. She had always thought he kept his entire head shaved, and now her hands literally twitched with the urge to run her fingers through it. It looked _so soft._

“As you wish.” He smoothed his eyebrows down with a scrunched-up face of displeasure, then ran his own hand through his hair before sliding his crown back on. “Shall I go down the same way?”

She nearly choked at the phrasing, but reminded herself that the Carja - no tribe that she knew of, actually - had that particular phrase for that particular activity, thank you Travis-fucking-Tate. She rolled her eyes.

“You get to sleep out here all night.”

Things were getting too personal, too … _close._ He didn’t seem to notice the change in her discomfort as he shrugged and sank onto the majlis couch by the doorway.

“It’s still warm enough. I accept this.” He tilted his head at her as the music reached them, still smiling. “Would you care to dance? Do you perhaps have Old World music?”

She did, in fact, and even as she told herself that this was a _very_ bad idea, dug into her Focus to find it, watching the wonder on Avad’s face as he watched her hands wave elegantly through the air. The tiny machine had a surprisingly loud speaker when it needed to, but somehow managed to project the sound so that it surrounded them and didn’t blow her eardrums out. It called the music ‘tango,’ and Avad’s face lit up even more.

“Oh, we have something like this!” he exclaimed, almost leaping up. “Do you know how to dance to it?” Aloy shook her head, and he shrugged out of his ceremonial robes and let them fall haphazardly onto the couch as he held his hand out, palm up. “Let me show you?”

She told herself that her lips and hand didn’t tremble as she delicately rested her fingers on his palm, elbow locked. He smiled and gently touched the inside of it to get her to loosen up, and she swallowed.

“Are you alright?” he murmured. “We don’t have to.”

She coughed and shook her head sharply, tightening her grip. “Ah, no. No, I’m fine. This is fine. Ah. What next?”

“Just … mirror me. I step forward on my right, you step back on your left.” He put his other hand lightly on her hip and pressed back gently. “Step back.” Then he pressed forward a little, his hand in hers moving the same direction. “Step forward. Good. One step to the side … one step back … forward … These are the basic steps …” He pulled her close to him, thigh against hers, and she stumbled a bit as hers slid inward. He laughed a little and stepped to the side just slightly, keeping her hips from moving. “Ah, that is, ah … an entirely different dance.” They were both blushing as Aloy murmured an apology, then stepped on his foot and winced. “You’re fine. You’re doing quite well.”

“Liar,” she murmured.

His teeth flashed white, and he didn’t bother to tone his smile down. “I am the Sun. I cannot lie.”

“I’m going to tell Sona you lied.”

That got her more laughter, and after a few minutes of struggling because her natural instinct was to lead, he finally sighed, gripped her hand and waist harder, dipped her unexpectedly, and used that to push her firmly back, thigh hard against hers, then forward, keeping the lengths of their bodies tight against one another as the song changed and the tempo sped up.

She stumbled often, but Avad was good at taking the lead and keeping her off-balance enough that her mistakes were easily corrected and she was unable to try to lead. She told herself that her heavy breathing was only because of the exertion of the dance, that her pounding heart was because of the same, and not the smile that never left his lips or his eyes that never left hers. She was reminded that he _was_ king, that he _was_ royalty, and as shy and sometimes timid as he could be, he was also used to being in charge, and could take charge very effectively when he put his gentle mind to it.

The song ended with their arms outstretched across each others’ chests, his fingers resting on her shoulder and hers curled around the bronze plates criss-crossing his chest. There was one moment of perfect silence before the next song started, and then Aloy whipped around as she slapped her Focus off hard enough to actually hurt herself. She winced and rubbed her temple, pressing herself against the balustrade and rubbed her arms, staring out over the waterfall behind the palace. She and Tala had swam in its little lake, earlier that day.

“... Aloy?” She took in a shuddering breath at Avad’s soft, unsure voice. “If I was inappropriate …”

He trailed off as she laughed and turned around, hopping up to sit on the balustrade. His eyes went wide with concern and she waved him off as he stepped forward.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re going to fall.”

“Hm?” She looked over her shoulder and then back at him, grinning as she leaned back a bit. “Me? Never.”

He stepped forward and reached for her, barely touching her wrist. “Aloy, please.”

He was terrified of losing people close to him, she realized gently. His mother, his brother, Ersa … Even Itamen, for a couple of years. She swung around and lay back, balustrade cool against her back as she looked up at the stars.

“Better?” she murmured.

“... after a fashion,” was his rough whisper a few moments later. She turned her head to look at him and he was staring at her in awe and desire, softly illuminated from behind by the sconces on either side of the balcony doorway.

Well, shit. His eyes were so soulful, his restraint so obvious and so obviously on the edge, it was so clear that he was on the verge of turning and running rather than crossing the boundary that she had set, he looked so … so _alone._ It wasn’t the loneliness that a casual lover could dispel, nor close friends. It was the loneliness of a man who had grown up essentially on his own, with distant caretakers. Rost, at least, had been warm in his own way, sternly caring, giving up everything for her even when she hadn’t realized it at the time.

Avad, though …

She raised an eyebrow and smiled softly at him, and his look of awe melted into one of caution as he took a hesitant step forward. She kept smiling and he kept taking small steps, until he was next to her, looking down at her and raising his hand slightly. She tilted her head up and to the side, and he reached out to gentle stroke her cheek. They both let out a sigh as she closed her eyes.

“I should very much like to kiss you,” he whispered.

That made Aloy laugh as she nodded. He got so _formal_ when he was nervous, his blundering replaced with a restraint that was practiced and enforced by Marad - she hadn’t missed that the spy always conveniently stepped in just as she was starting to think the king was flirting with her.

He curled his hand around her cheek and she opened her eyes just enough to watch him leaning over her, ghosting his lips from her forehead to the tip of her nose as she tilted her head up, then, finally, firmly pressing against her own. They both let out a soft noise and then he was pulling away with the softest of pops, their lips just barely touching, their breath warm and shaky against each other.

He whispered her name even as she raised her head up a fraction of an inch to kiss him again, and his fingers slid along her neck, just under her ear, curling firmly in her hair as his thumb stroked her cheek. She mimicked him, then ran her hand up the back of his head, inadvertently pushing his crown off. It clattered to the balcony below them even as both of them shot their hands out for it, getting in each other’s way as it slipped out of their grasp. There was the sound of snapping metal and they both started laughing as the guard heaved a sigh.

“I will … have this fixed.”

“Ah, thank you,” Avad told him, mouth moving against Aloy’s as she ran her fingers through his thick locks, enjoying how soft they were. “You, ah …”

“Dismissed. Thank you, Your Radiance.”

Aloy tensed and swallowed as the clinking of the man’s armor faded, suddenly nervous and wanting him to come back. It felt safer, somehow, with him there. Avad noticed and started to pull away, until her arm was stretched out fully and keeping him from standing straighter.

He was looking her over, concerned, and licked his lips a couple of times as Aloy’s stomach tense and fluttered at the sight. “... Uhm … I can … we don’t …”

She sighed and pulled him down again, unbalancing him slightly. He steadied himself with his hand on the balustrade beneath her waist, making a short, needful noise as their lips met again. He curled his hand under her waist and raised the other to run his fingers through her hair, and Aloy arched her back up and slid her free arm around his back, pressing their chests together. His bronze was cool but his skin - _he_ \- was almost fever-hot.

He moved his lips to hover over where her jaw met her neck and made a questioning noise, one she answered by tilting her head the other way and making a small return noise of pleasure. His kisses were gentle, sometimes firm, and he kissed down to her collarbone before moving to the dip at the base of her throat, under her chin, back to her lips. She was digging the pads of her fingers into his back and when he moved his hand over her stomach, warm palm against cool skin, she shuddered and whined and arched her back again, biting at his lower lip. He let out his own whine and kissed her harder, with more urgency, then stood and pulled her with him, holding her hips as she squeezed her thighs around his waist.

He pulled away suddenly, resting his forehead against hers as she blinked in surprise. She was going to feel like a damn fool and never come back if she had misjudged the situation and his intentions.

“What do you want to do?” he asked her. Then he shook his head, mouth partially open as he took deep, controlled breaths. “I mean … where would you like this to stop? I will stop any time you ---”

“Oh, for the love of ---” She grabbed him and sank her teeth into the soft skin of his neck, making him cry out and clutch at her back. She hadn’t done it very hard. His reaction was … interesting. “Please respect me a little bit less,” she whispered huskily in his ear. _“Just_ a little.”

He let out another tight noise and pulled her tightly against him, at just the right height to feel him hard against her. She let out a shuddering moan and then he was lifting her, turning and pushing her vest off as he carried her into her room. She laughed through their kiss at the triumphant huff he let out as he crossed the threshold, but was too busy trying to figure out how the fuck to get his top off to tease him about it. He finally started laughing and fumbled with her, showing her how the white centerpiece unhooked - dropping it carelessly to the floor - and how the vest latched in the center.

It made a startling amount of sense, and explained how he hadn’t just been welded into it when he had been crowned.

Getting the rest of it off was a bit more of a struggle, especially when they hit the bed and fell over with startled shouts. His melted into apologies as Aloy’s melted into laughter, then she left him to figure out the top as she lifted herself in a semi-crunch and pulled her silk top off. Avad took in a sharp breath and when she looked up at him, he was staring at her taut stomach muscles and how she was able to keep her torso lifted off the soft bed. She laughed, and he raised his eyes, letting out his breath in a short garble as they fixed on her breasts. He actually fell forward, coming an inch or so away from them as she fell back with another laugh.

“I _know_ you’ve seen breasts before,” she gasped out. He let out another garbled noise and she arched her chest up enough to brush against him, twisting to run her nipples over his lips as he let out short, sharp groans.

She was starting to speak again when he caught one nipple between his lips and pressed down, running his tongue around it as she gasped and let her head fall back, grabbing at his hair. He moved his other hand to her free breast and rested it on it, and when she let out an encouraging squeak, gripped it gently, kneading it. She sighed, more of a huff, and covered his hand, showing him exactly how firm he could be.

“I’m not going to break,” she whispered.

He switched sides with a distracted hum, and shifted until he was kneeling between her legs and undoing his ridiculously fancy belt, throwing it to the side and then hesitating with his hands on the tops of his pants.

“You might want to take your shoes off, first,” she murmured with a laugh. He took a breath. “Yes, I want to have sex.” He let out a muffled groan and resumed pushing his pants off, and Aloy laughed and raised her legs, sliding them around until they were no longer around him, sitting up and pushing him down next to her. “Shoes! Shoes!”

“... Oh. Right. Uhm - _Ah!”_ She had reached out and gently tweaked his penis, laughing at the way he jumped. He glared and she wrinkled her nose at him. _“Why?!”_

“Why not?” she laughed. “Hurry, before I get bored.”

“These things are _complicated,”_ he complained, tearing at his shoes and cursing a bit when she got up. “Hey!”

_“Relax,”_ she told him, standing in front of him and reaching behind herself to unhook her overskirt. She let the thick brocade fall and his head snapped up, hands slowing but still undoing his shoes as he stared. _“My_ shoes don’t _need_ to come off.” She hooked her thumbs in her waistband and inched it down, stopping when he stopped. His eyes went wide and he managed to get one shoe off, and Aloy slid her skirt to just above the tangle of curls between her legs, a few red strands poking out.

Avad nearly had a heart attack. He pitched forward and Aloy’s first thought was that he had passed out, but then his lips were on her stomach and he was kissing and nipping at her, running the tip of his tongue along the edge of her waistband. She gasped and jerked her hips forward without meaning to, and then he was throwing his second shoe across the room and it crashed into an electric wall sconce with a tiny explosion, making them both jump before he covered her hands with his and they both finished pulling her skirt to her thighs.

She had meant to slide it all the way off, but as soon as it was low enough, Avad dove right in, kissing her and holding her hips firmly in his hands as he pulled her closer. She gasped and gripped his shoulders when he slid his tongue between her legs. She knew that body hair removal was a huge thing for Carja nobility, but he gave no indication he noticed that that was the one spot she left alone. He massaged her rear and thighs, his own groans and gasps mirroring her own. She was dizzy with the pleasure shooting through her, and when he started to pull away, held her hand at the back of his head to keep him in place. He let out a huff of laughter that dissolved into another moan as he went back to work, and she didn’t let him go until she was shuddering with her orgasm.

She waited until her shudders had slowed, then pushed him back and slid to her knees, not hesitating in leaning down to take him into her mouth. He let out a guttural groan of surprise and clenched his fists at his sides, staring down at her as she moved up and down his length, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, varying the pressure of her lips and tongue to see what he liked best. He seemed to like all of it best, actually, especially when she looked up at him. He raised one shaking hand to run it very lightly over her hair, probably afraid to put it on her any harder and seem like he was forcing her. She pulled up enough to just hold the head of his penis in her mouth, playing with the pressure of her tongue and lips as she gripped him in one hand and stroked slowly and firmly up, then quickly and gently down.

It wasn’t something she was usually keen on doing. She didn’t usually enjoy it much - was rather neutral on it, really - unless she was particularly aroused, and then she _loved_ it. That Avad had gotten her to this point so quickly, even taking into consideration her gradually-building desire for him, was fairly impressive. Still, she finally pulled away and ignored his soft whine of protest, standing and pushing him back at the same time. He fell back on his elbows with a confused look. He got it when she straddled him, though, his smile lighting his face, eager and _happy_ as she held him still with one hand and then rubbed herself over him on a whim, letting her head drop forward and her eyes flutter shut as she let out short, gasping breaths. The feeling of him rubbing over her slick flesh, the pressure of the head of his penis pressing against her, was exquisite. Avad whispered her name, and she leaned down to kiss him again as she finally slid onto him.

They both paused, Aloy holding his hands above his head, fingers curled around his wrists. She lowered herself until she was laying fully on him, feeling the pounding of his heart against her chest, nestling her face in the crook of his neck. He turned his own face to nuzzle her neck, kissing her shoulder gently. It felt _good_ to have him inside of her, to be surrounding him, to have him under her.

After a few more moments she shifted her hips back, then forward, and listened to Avad’s sharp intake of breath. After a few more times she raised her head enough to cover his mouth with her own. He met her lips eagerly, with perhaps a faint whisper of her name, opened his mouth for her, gladly accepting her as the one in control. She liked that. The power struggle that was fucking Nil was fun at times, as was the equal give-and-take with Tala, but _this,_ here, with Avad … it was _amazing._ He moved with her, responded to her, took her silent direction easily. She eventually pushed herself up and rested her weight on her hands, careful to not cut his circulation off as she moved her hips faster and stared down at him with hazy eyes and an open mouth, wondering if those short, sharp squeaks of pleasure were really falling from her own lips.

Avad was noisier, though, and Aloy was glad that the guard below them had left, hoped that he had had the sense to not have anyone stand guard too close to her door. No wonder everyone had known about him and Ersa - he needed a damn gag, he was so loud, gasping her name, crying out wordlessly, tossing his head back and forth as he begged her - _begged_ her - to go harder, go faster.

She did, sitting up and resting her hands on his smooth chest for better leverage. He responded by gripping her hip with one hand, raising his own to meet her, and running the other up her torso to grab her breast and squeeze as hard as she had shown him before, she tossed her head back with a gasp and rocked hard against him, then shifted to a more up-and-down motion, sitting up and holding his hand to her as she looked down at him.

“By the Sun, by the Sun,” he was whispering. “You’re perfect. You’re beautiful.”

That made her laugh, but not unkindly. He was _so damned earnest_ in his praise of her, and she had no doubt that he believed every word. Then he was gasping again, louder, his hips jerking once, twice, three times as both their eyes widened in surprise. He clearly hadn’t meant to finish so quickly, but even as his flush took on an embarrassed twinge, he was flipping them both over and sliding one arm under her neck and the other under her waist, lifting her a bit and then … then …

She didn’t know _what_ he did, then, but it involved his hips and _swiveling_ and oh holy fucking _All-Mother_ she was nearly screaming as her orgasm hit her, crying his name out and swearing and thrashing as her fingernails ripped into his back and drew blood, as her body fucking _exploded_ and she literally saw _stars,_ had the hysterical thought that she could see the _entire fucking universe_ as she forgot to breathe and nearly passed out.

As soon as she had even somewhat caught her breath, when the stars had cleared and she was fairly certain she knew who she was, or at least had a good - a general - idea, she gave him an awed, slightly horrified look as he rested on his elbows and smiled smugly down at her, breathing not quite as heavily as she was.

_“What_ the _fuck_ was _that?!”_ she croaked, voice cracking on the last word. She was still shuddering, still had aftershocks making her twitch and jerk despite trying her best to not - not that she had any energy left.

Avad let out a soft laugh and tilted his head down to gently kiss her lips. “I told you not to make fun of my stupid sex books,” he whispered.

Her responding kiss was automatic as she stared at him, wide-eyed. _“That_ is what Eloquent Ratatid ---”

“Tatavid,” he corrected her with another soft laugh and soft kiss.

“--- wrote about?!”

“Amongst other things, yes.”

“Holy _shit,”_ Aloy cursed, laying her head back again and staring at the ceiling. It had just decided to stop spinning. “Holy _shit.”_

He leaned down further and gently kissed the side of her neck. “I … take it that you’re satisfied?”

“Holy _shit,”_ was all she could breathe. After a while he shifted, and then they both started a bit. He sat up and looked down as he - and the accompanying mess - slid out of her, while she stared wide-eyed at the blood on her fingers.

“Aloy ---”

“Avad ---”

They both stopped, then started again, and repeated it a few more times before he held his hand over his mouth and gestured for her to speak.

“I hurt you,” she murmured, struggling to sit up and failing quite spectacularly. She couldn’t put any weight on her arms. “I’m so sorry, I ---”

“What?” He gave her a perplexed look, then took her gently by the wrists and brought her hands closer, so he could see them in the dim light. Then he shifted his shoulders experimentally and hissed even as he grinned. He kissed her knuckles. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding,” she murmured.

He nodded. “Yes, as I quite expected to be.” She opened her mouth and he leaned down to kiss her. “It means I did my job right,” he murmured. She shuddered with another jolt of pleasure. “Don’t worry yourself. We have a week yet of me having to wear my robes. No one will notice, and if they do, well …” He shrugged. “They needn’t know it was you.” Then he sat up and frowned, running his hands through his hair. _“I_ am sorry, though,” he finally got out, clearly irritated. He placed one hand on her abdomen as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. “I didn’t stop to think --- I didn’t consider --- I can’t get you ---”

Aloy started laughing breathlessly, reaching up to pull him down beside her. “Do you know how the Nora keep a sustained population?” she murmured in his ear as he lay his head on her shoulder.

“... No?”

“Do you know how Teb got so wealthy all of a sudden?”

“... I am afraid I don’t.”

She was giggling, now. “Do you know why his tea is marketed strictly towards women?”

“Well, yes,” Avad said irritably, clearly not sure how it was all connected. “It’s for female ailments and heal---” Aloy burst out laughing as all the pieces came crashing together. He jerked his head up to stare at her, eyes wide and mouth working silently as he blinked and kept shaking his head a little in shock. “O --- Oh. _Oh. … Oh.”_

“Yes, _oh,”_ Aloy laughed. “Trust me, I am _not_ going to get pregnant. I have too much to do, and you can’t have a bastard running around in any case. A cup a day keeps the ailments away,” she quoted, then rolled her eyes. “That rhyme is ridiculous.”

“Yet effective.”

“Much like the tea.” She shrugged as he settled back down, arms wrapped tightly around her. “Besides, you all have your own tea ---”

“Yes, that induces a woman’s menses, which causes pain ---”

“Oooh,” Aloy simpered, “a man who knows what _menses_ are and isn’t _afraid_ of them.”

“Are you ever _not_ sarcastic?”

“No.”

“Aloy, I’m serious.” He pushed himself up and frowned down at her, brushing his hair out of his face. She laughed as it fell right back in his face. “Be serious.”

She pointed down her body. “Why don’t you put your face between my legs again, then I’ll consider your request.” He let out an irritated sigh and she snapped her fingers, grinning. “Well? I can’t hold the sarcasm back much longer.”

“Yes, you can,” he muttered as he slid down the bed and between her legs once more.

“What was that? I could have sworn I heard something, which is impossible, because you have a jo-_hob to do!”_ she squealed out, hands flying down to hold his face against her as she bucked her hips up. _“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”_

She yelled every swear word she knew, then made some up when Avad’s fingers joined his mouth and tongue. It had him nearly choking with laughter, but he was a man with a strong sense of duty, who let nothing deter him from it. She lost track of how many times she came, then garbled something until he let her turn around, struggling to hold herself up by the headboard of the bed, pushing her rear back. He let out a soft breath and settled behind her, sliding himself back into her and gripping her hips as he started thrusting. She giggled each time the headboard thunked against the wall, wiggled against him and tightened herself around him and laughed when he choked, and reached one hand behind her, beckoning until he leaned over and rested his forehead between her shoulder blades, moving one hand to her breasts. She gripped the back of his neck and cried out loudly, hoping to All-Mother and the Sun that no one was in the room nextdoor.

It was rutting more than anything, but this time he had more self-control, pulling out of her suddenly and, rather than flipping her over, sliding under her and pulling her hips down to meet his mouth, tongue already out. She ground against him and gasped through another orgasm before turning around so she could take him in her mouth again and reciprocate at the same time. Her own bittersweet taste was still all over him, and she could faintly taste the saltiness of his own orgasm, as well.

She pulled back after a while and looked between them, where Avad was still having the time of his life. “If you finish in my mouth,” she gasped, “I’m spitting it all over your face.”

That had him bursting into laughter hard enough that he started to choke and had to push her off of him as she laughed, too. He pushed himself up with some effort and beat his fist against his sternum, tears falling down his face. He coughed so hard and so long that she was starting to actually get worried, then he pulled her into his lap and held her cheeks in both hands as he kissed her again and again and again.

“Not in your mouth, hm?” he finally whispered, hoarse from coughing and laughing.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. In me,” and she gestured down, “is … acceptable. But it’s going all over your face if you do it anywhere else on me.”

“You are assuming that I wouldn’t enjoy that.”

That gave her pause, and she narrowed her eyes at him as he looked at her innocently and reached between them to run himself over her again, making her eyes cross as she tried to figure out if he was joking or not.

“Yeah, well,” she finally panted, squirming as she tried to get him inside of her again, “let’s not find out.”

That brought another rough laugh as he finally let her settle over him again, both of them sighing. “As the lady likes,” he whispered in her ear.

“Shut up and do that hip thing again,” she growled.

***

It was midmorning before they woke up, tangled in what had started as comfortable positions - at least, positions they were too exhausted to notice weren’t ideal for sleeping in - but what now were causing Avad, at least, a backache. He also had a headache, as if he had drunk far too much wine, and his mouth was dry, his throat parched and sore. Not all of it was from all the yelling he had done the night before. He turned over with a groan that Aloy answered with her own, holding his arm over his eyes to block out the light of the Sun as he fumbled around for the jug of water by the bed. It was used to wash up with, but was clean, if a little stale, and would do for drinking for the moment. He handed it to the woman beside him, first, watching as she sat up and hissed.

“What the _fuck?”_ she croaked before taking the jug and gulping it down. She put one hand on her lower abdomen, then between her legs. _“Ow._ What the _hell?”_

Avad drank greedily when she passed the jug bag to him, still cursing as she wondered why she _hurt_ down there. He almost snorted water out of his nose when he realized what had happened, and was rewarded with a glare.

“The _hell_ did you _do_ to me?”

“My apologies,” he coughed, moving to set the jug on the floor but getting water splashed on him as she jerked it back to herself, still glaring as she drank more. “Ah … well … I, ah, I appear to have … hit your womb. With … well. I hardly intended to - I am _so_ sorry.”

She was staring blankly at him. “You _what.”_

He was red, he knew. “Ah, usually I can’t --- That doesn’t usually happen,” he confessed, “but … there _was_ a lot of … contorting … last night …”

Aloy groaned and handed the jug back before flopping back, hissing as it shifted her hips. “I’m going to be walking funny all day, aren’t I.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he repeated meekly.

She was laughing softly, though. “Well, damn. I need a bath.” She glanced at him. “So do you.”

He looked down at himself, at the flakes of dried semen on his chest and stomach. _“You_ put that there.”

“I did not. Take me to the bath.”

He got up stiffly and pulled her as gently into his arms as possible. “You did too.”

“Did not. It came from _you.”_

“And _you **specifically** aimed for my face._ You said so. It isn’t _my_ fault that you missed.”

_“You’re_ the one who didn’t make enough to reach.”

He huffed and nudged the bathing room door open, then waded into the small pool up to his waist, looked her dead in the eye, and dropped her. She let out an ignoble squawk and flailed gracelessly as she went under, and came up with a fury, hitting him in the chest as he tried to backpedal and then holding him under for a few moments.

They wrestled for a while, which led to a few more rounds of far more careful sex, which led to more scratches on his back that Marad was going to be neutrally furious about and water all over the room. When they settled down, resting in the warm water and letting it ease their aching muscles, he turned his head and kissed her shoulder gently, asking what had been on his mind since he had climbed over the balcony the night before.

“Are you alright with this?”

She was quiet for a few heart-stopping moments. Then, “I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t. Are _you?”_

“I am.” He shifted a little and forced the discomfort down so he could say what needed to be said. “This is … whatever you want it to be,” he told her slowly. She made a small noise and he didn’t look up at her as he rested between her legs, back pressed against her chest. “I … have no expectations. Well,” he said with a humorless huff, “I expect you to do as you please. I ---”

“Yeah, I understood.” She interrupted quietly, gently, and took her own time replying. “I … don’t know. I don’t know.”

“Then it is what it is,” he said. “I am at your service until you decide otherwise.”

“Or you find a wife.”

“Yes.”

“No asking me to be your mistress?” While teasing, her voice also held a serious note.

Avad snorted. “Even if I thought you would accept that, Ersa beat all thoughts of mistresses out of me.” The pang of hurt was still there, would always be there, but it was getting easier to talk about her.

“Ugh, you’re so _formal_ when you’re uncomfortable.” He shrugged, then turned and blew a raspberry on her breast, making her laugh and splash at him. “Hey!”

“You didn’t seem to want me to be so formal,” he told her seriously. She paused, deciding if he was teasing or not, then rolled her eyes and pushed at his face. Their stomachs grumbled at the same time, and they laughed. “Come on, lunch will be served soon, and Itamen will want his present. If you can walk that far.”

“Will _you_ be able to?” she shot back as they both got out of the bath, hands wandering over bodies that were too exhausted to respond.

“Possibly. Painfully.”

_“You_ didn’t have anything hitting your insides last night.”

“No, just tearing my back up and hair out.”

“You liked it.”

“I never said otherwise.”

She huffed as they dressed, her in her light Blazon armor and him in the same outfit he wore every day, and when she opened her door, his crown was sitting on the table outside of it, neatly repaired and looking like he hadn’t broken it once, much less the dozen or so times since his coronation.

To be fair to himself, it hadn’t all been him - some of the damage had been from various lovers, and some of it had been from playing with Itamen or letting the palace girls play with it.

“You’re awake!” Itamen called as they came out of the tower and walked into the solarium, jumping up to hug them both. “You went to bed early.” Then he gasped. “Avad, you got hurt!”

There was silence and averted gazes from Nasadi and everyone else at the table that was somehow worse than them acknowledging the hickey that Aloy had given him. He covered it and looked at Aloy with wide eyes that hers matched, and coughed.

“Ah … uhm …”

“I bit him,” Aloy said. There _was_ startled coughing, this time, and Avad stared at her in shock even as Itamen giggled. “He tried to come into my room without asking, so I bit him. I’ll bite you, too, if you don’t ask and get permission before coming in.”

Itamen laughed. “You’re funny.” He took their hands and pulled them toward the table, where Avad found it impossible to meet anyone’s eyes as he sat. “Mother said I couldn’t open my equinox present until you both got up. She wouldn’t let me wake you up.”

“How awful, having to be patient,” Avad told him lightly as he was finally allowed to open his present, squealing with delight and throwing himself at Aloy as she laughed, begging her to show him how to use it.

From the looks on everyone’s faces, they were just _itching_ to get him alone, and he was _never_ going to hear the end of this. Marad was displeased, Erend and Vanasha were nearly vibrating with the need to get all the gossip and give him shit, and Nasadi … he wasn’t sure, but she looked faintly amused, while Uthid just looked embarrassed. They, at least, would probably not tease or berate him.

Much.

At least Itamen had been distracted, so he didn’t have to deal with Nasadi’s quiet disappointment, as well.

He hated her quiet disappointment. It was far more effective than any amount of yelling. She knew it, too.

Later that evening, he found Aloy alone, having just gotten off the dance floor in order to get a drink. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye as he came up beside and and bowed slightly.

“Lady Aloy.”

“Avad. I’m going to kick your ass if you call me ‘Lady’ again.”

He laughed louder than he had meant to, and narrowed his eyes as she grinned at him. She was in the same outfit as the night before, and his heart pounded.

“... Did you want something?” He realized he had been staring and flushed, looking down and clearing his throat. “You know, I bet you could scale the wall to get to my balcony,” she said as she looked at her wine critically. Avad’s eyes flew wide. He had just come over to check on her, but if he was honest, he had also been hoping for an invitation back to her bed. Then she shrugged. “But you should probably just come through the door. You probably can’t lift yourself up right now.”

“Ah … probably not.” He still wasn’t sure if this was the invitation he had hoped for, but she turned away and then looked back at him with a grin.

“This time, don’t hit anything internal.”

**Author's Note:**

> xenon bribed me
> 
> i couldn't resist


End file.
